Current Insights into m6A RNA Methylation and Its Emerging Role in Plant Circadian Clock

Abstract

N6-adenosine methylation (m6A) is a prevalent form of RNA modification found in the expressed transcripts of many eukaryotic organisms. Moreover, m6A methylation is a dynamic and reversible process that requires the functioning of various proteins and their complexes that are evolutionarily conserved between species and include methylases, demethylases, and m6A-binding proteins. Over the past decade, the m6A methylation process in plants has been extensively studied and the understanding thereof has drastically increased, although the regulatory function of some components relies on information derived from animal systems. Notably, m6A has been found to be involved in a variety of factors in RNA processing, such as RNA stability, alternative polyadenylation, and miRNA regulation. The circadian clock in plants is a molecular timekeeping system that regulates the daily and rhythmic activity of many cellular and physiological processes in response to environmental changes such as the day-night cycle. The circadian clock regulates the rhythmic expression of genes through post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA. Recently, m6A methylation has emerged as an additional layer of post-transcriptional regulation that is necessary for the proper functioning of the plant circadian clock. In this review, we have compiled and summarized recent insights into the molecular mechanisms behind m6A modification and its various roles in the regulation of RNA. We discuss the potential role of m6A modification in regulating the plant circadian clock and outline potential future directions for the study of mRNA methylation in plants. A deeper understanding of the mechanism of m6A RNA regulation and its role in plant circadian clocks will contribute to a greater understanding of the plant circadian clock.

Diurnal gene oscillations modulated by RNA metabolism in tomato

“…N 6methyladenosine (m 6 A) modification of circadian gene CCA1 is regulated by light-induced phase separation of CRYs, which interact with m 6 A writer complex and accelerate CCA1's degradation. This finding highlights the important role of m 6 A modification in plant circadian rhythm (Chuong et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2021). Additionally, natural variation in miR397 can affect the circadian period and flowering time in Arabidopsis, indicating the posttranscriptional role of miRNA in plant circadian regulation (Feng et al, 2020).…”

“…While circadian transcription was originally believed to be the primary contributor to mRNA abundance, mounting evidence suggests that circadian post‐transcriptional regulation also plays a significant role in modulating the RNA life cycle (Torres et al., 2018). Several steps of RNA processing, including RNA alternative splicing, RNA chemical modification, and RNA export, exhibit circadian oscillation (Chuong et al., 2023; Fustin et al., 2013; McGlincy et al., 2012; Torres et al., 2017).…”

Transcriptome-Wide N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) Methylation Analyses in a Compatible Wheat–Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici Interaction

“…The most canonical consensus motif of the m 6 A modification site is RRACH (R = G or A; H = U, A or C) [13], which accounts for more than 90% of the m 6 A sites in wheat mR-NAs [14]. Numerous studies in plants also identified this dominant consensus motif [15][16][17]. Alternative motifs of GGAU and URUAY (Y = C or U) were also found to be enriched in plant species by epitranscriptome analysis [18,19].…”

Trends and Prospects of Genetic and Molecular Research in Plants

“…Additionally, the expression levels of OsPITP-related genes were found to be greatly affected by Magnaporthe oryzae infection. In their review article, Chuong et al [ 10 ] reported that N6-adenosine methylation (m 6 A) is an evolutionarily conserved, dynamic, and reversible process across species that occurs as a complex with a variety of proteins, including methylases, demethylases, and m 6 A binding proteins. In plants, the regulatory function of the m 6 A methylation component has been shown to be involved in various elements of RNA processing, such as RNA stability, alternative polyadenylation, and miRNA regulation.…”